Asked recently about the moves he made over the previous five months to overhaul the Pittsburgh Steelers’ inside linebackers corps, general manager Omar Khan seemed to imply that the makeover wasn’t finished.
“If there’s an opportunity to upgrade a position group,” Khan said in response to an inquiry specifically referencing the inside linebackers, “we’re always going to look at it. And if it makes sense, it makes sense.”
That was Thursday. By Saturday night, word was leaking that the Steelers apparently found a move that made sense.
On Sunday morning, the team announced nine-year NFL veteran Kwon Alexander agreed to a one-year contract with the Steelers.
We have signed LB Kwon Alexander to a one-year contract. @BordasLaw
????: https://t.co/BVFLTKIfli pic.twitter.com/dmLSxK3M4F
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) July 30, 2023
Alexander, who turns 29 on Thursday, played all 17 games last year in his only season for the New York Jets. The 12 games he started tied for the second most in his career, though Alexander fell just short of playing half of New York’s defensive snaps in 2022.
The 6-foot-1, 227-pound Alexander spent his first four NFL seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who had made him a fourth-round pick out of LSU in 2015. A Pro Bowl selection for the 2017 season, Alexander has a reputation for being a good coverage linebacker, an area in which the Steelers have lacked in recent years.
Alexander has eight career interceptions in addition to 11 forced fumbles, 12½ sacks and 49 tackles for loss in 95 games.
The addition of Alexander to an ILB group that was expected to have a top three of Cole Holcomb, Elandon Roberts and Mark Robinson figures to be an upgrade in passing situations for the Steelers. Roberts and Holcomb were signed as unrestricted free agents in March, with the second-year Robinson the lone returnee of anyone who played inside linebacker for the Steelers last season.
The Steelers also signed veteran Tanner Muse and Nick Kwiatkoski at the position, but they were expected to impact the Steelers more on special teams. Chapelle Russell, who finished last season on the Steelers’ practice squad, is also part on the position group.
Each of the three inside linebackers who played the most snaps for the Steelers last season — Devin Bush, Myles Jack and Robert Spillane — were allowed to leave in free agency or released.
In a corresponding move, the team released offensive tackle Jarrid Williams.
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